Quietly powerful and poetic in its echoes of past events, “The Dream Team” episode provides a more than satisfying season ender while keeping us on edge for future developments. That’s particularly good news, considering how often the show’s third year seemed to lack focus, veering away from promising plot lines.

The hour begins where we left off, with Kalinda joining Alicia at a bar. Randomly, Kalinda answers Mrs. Florrick’s question from two years ago: “I’m not gay. I’m flexible.”

Called away to court, Alicia is stunned to hear Judge Linden award $25 million—$7 million more than requested— to Lockhart’s client, who was made sterile by an acne drug. As long time adversary Lou Canning rants about appeal, Diane calls Will to rejoice in the opportunity to pay some bills.

Again somewhat randomly, Peter shows up to tell Alicia that Jackie paid 10 percent cash down on the house, so to avoid losing that, he’ll buy it and flip it, living there in the meantime. They have an amicable conversation, with Alicia amused at the idea of Peter “colonizing our past.”

Cary’s first day back at the firm puts him in the bullpen until an office is ready, which may be never.

In her own huge, private space, Alicia looks through Kalinda’s IRS file and sees a 2007 check for $21,000 from F&E Construction. When she calls the number, trying to get the check reissued—it’s made out to “Cash”—she gets a gangster voice on the line. When he wants the check number, she hangs up.

Maternally annoying lawyer Patti Nyholm (the wonderful Martha Plimpton in a chic new haircut) arrives at the firm, babies in tow, and immediately uses the waiting area as a diaper changing room. Down the hall, Lou Canning offers the firm a onetime settlement of zero in the acne case. Patti and Lou, “the dream team,” are instead suing Lockhart on behalf of the pharmaceutical company and its insurer, using judicial bribery as the reason. “This case was built for a jury and you requested a bench trial,” Patti tells the Lockhart team, adding to Will: “A million dollar case and your basketball buddy awarded $25 million. You gamed the system. You can’t do that with me, Will.”

“Nor with me,” says Canning.

Later, Will tells his team—as Patti’s kid crashes into the door in her walker—that Nyholm is using the suit to fact find, “to see if we did anything wrong.” They devise a delaying tactic for the interviews, with Patti finally telling Will, “We can do this all day, but remember, I’m not the one with the balloon payment due on his office—oops, was that the elephant in the room?”

Eli visits Jackie in the hospital, where she is watching an old black and white crime story on TV. He is happy to find her well enough to yell at and tells her that, without Alicia, Peter will lose his bid to become Governor: “She was on our side until you got involved with this friggin’ house… If their separation goes wide, everything collapses. I want you to apologize. Your son will not win without Alicia and I will not manage his campaign without her.”

The ailing Lockhart continues to battle the Dream Team, with Diane concluding that her opponents have been leaked sealed grand jury testimony against Will. Gardner wants Kalinda to find out who’s leaking, while Diane believes “we need to talk settlement. We’re vulnerable.” She suggests offering to drop the acne drug class action “to get the balloon payment behind us.” Also, honcho client Patrick Edelstein is making noises about leaving. “Everything is falling apart as we fight this.”

But when that offer is made, Canning says no: “We’re not here to settle, we’re here to destroy you. Our clients are tired of getting sued by you. We’re getting paid a lot of money to make you go bankrupt.”

When he leaves, the lights flicker in the conference room.

Kalinda follows Patti and her kids to a park, where Nyholm meets the SA’s Mr. Mom investigator, Andrew Wiley. Patti argues that Wiley is legally sharing his knowledge of the grand jury investigation.

“He doesn’t break the rules,” Cary agrees, when Diane asks for his help with Wiley.

Crime-viewing Jackie isn’t getting much rest today: Now Alicia pops in to tell her to retain a lawyer: “You took money from my children’s trust so that you could outbid me on my family home. I intend to sue you.”

Which should end things neatly but doesn’t, because Canning steps up to add another name to his witness list: Alicia Florrick.

Back at the office, Alicia has a tense meeting with Kalinda, who freaks when she hears that Mrs. Florrick has called F&E construction, then says she will “take care of it.” Shades of the investigator’s baseball bat-wielding days as Kalinda stops off at a home supply store to buy a sledge hammer.

At an apartment—her own? It’s pretty sparse, maybe just a secret second address?—Kalinda breaks through a wall to retrieve cash, guns and ammo. She tosses these and some books into a bag and departs looking undecided about next steps.

Alicia is watching a movie with the kids—who are still lobbying for her to move back into the old house with Dad—when the goon from the construction company calls her cell, knowing her name. She is doubly worried when Kalinda doesn’t show up at work the next day, but goes in to be interviewed by Patti.

Nyholm tells her that Peter met with Judge Linden three times during the week before the acne drug verdict, suggesting that the SA interfered on Lockhart’s behalf. When Alicia says she was unaware of this, the dream team decides to subpoena Florrick himself.

Now the show really gets rolling as Peter and Will end up awkwardly stuck in a slow elevator, then released from the doors to a waiting Alicia. Eli shows up, then Cary and finally Kalinda. “Hey, it’s a surprise party for you,” says Gold.

Alicia shows Peter her office and he tells her he’s impressed by her achievements, but Will and Kalinda are having a more strained off-site meeting. Kalinda wants an advance so she can get out of town. He gives her what he can and tells her, “I don’t know. It feels like things are falling apart again.”

“You’ll build them up again,” she assure him. “That’s what you do.”

Another bombshell comes in the Lockhart conference room, where Peter testifies that his meetings with Judge Linden had nothing to do with his wife and the acne case: “My wife and I are separated.”

Now it’s on the record, big time.

So, soon enough, is Kalinda’s secret. Alicia tells her “that man called me at home and said my name…Is this man dangerous?”

Yeah, says Kalinda, “He’s my husband.”

Well, some of us suspected that all along, and here’s hoping next season tells the full story.

Of course, everybody could be unemployed by then because the Dream Team now reveal their suit has been a distraction. While Lockhart worked to defend itself, they were busy stealing 26 percent of the firm’s business, in the person of top client Andrew Edelstein.

“And it’s too late to call him,” Diane tells Will. “So…tomorrow.”

In a poignant scene recalling the steamy hotel ride that concluded Season 2, Will and Alicia get into the elevator. “That was weird,” he says of the encounter with Peter. Then, after some long looks: “Do you think it was a mistake?” “No,” she says.

Kalinda is back at her apartment, dumping the contents of the bag and retrieving and loading a gun. She pulls up a chair to face the apartment door and tucks the gun next to her.

Alicia has a happier if conflicted ending when she decides to visit the old Florrick abode. The family wants her to stay for pizza, she declines, then hesitates on the welcome mat.

So both our heroines are at crossroads, one violent, one romantic/domestic, as the house that binds them, Lockhart, Gardner, may be crumbling. Cliffhangers don’t get much more intriguing than that.